‘Pi’s’ Claudio Miranda wins for best cinematography
Ang Lee’s masterpiece joins a trio of 3D films to win the award
CAMERON | PACE Group has been the main provider of 3D expertise and patented technology on all three projects
BURBANK, Calif., Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — “Life of Pi,” the masterful rendition of a young man’s terrifying journey across the Pacific, won four Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects and a Best Cinematography Oscar for Claudio Miranda at the 85th Academy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles.
“Pi” joins a select group of only three films shot in 3D to receive the Oscar for cinematography. The trio (“Avatar,” “Hugo” and “Pi”) share a singular provenance: CAMERON | PACE Group (CPG) has been the main provider of 3D expertise for these Oscar-winning films. All three employed CPG’s patented technology to empower production.
” Claudio Miranda ‘s work on ‘Life of Pi’ stands as the best example of native 3D cinematography to date,” says director James Cameron , CPG’s co-founder and co-chairman. “And his Oscar win is a milestone in the acceptance of 3D into the creative process of world class filmmakers. I’m proud that ‘Life of Pi’ is CPG Certified, and of our CAMERON | PACE Group team for supporting this great work of cinema art and science.”
CPG supported “Pi’s” 3D artistry from pre-production creative input to post-production finishing, lending both expertise and technology to a project that has reaffirmed the artistic and financial potential of 3D filmmaking. The film’s triumph on Oscar night also underscores CPG’s leadership in 3D technology and production.
A Global Triumph
Pi” was considered by many to be unfilmable because of its daunting logistics (for one, a Bengal tiger in the confines of a small life raft). “I thought, ‘this was an impossible project,'” recalled Ang Lee , who won his second Best Director Oscar for the film. A 2010 visit to CPG facilities in Burbank helped convince the director that 3D could play a pivotal role in bringing his singular vision to the screen.
Lee and cinematographer Claudio Miranda, who won his first Oscar on Sunday for best cinematography, were determined to get 3D right. The filmmakers collaborated with CPG Co-Founder and Co-Chairman Vince Pace to identify the best equipment and methodology for the project.
“Pi” marked Miranda’s second collaboration with CPG, having worked previously with the company on “Tron: Legacy.” Both in Burbank and on locations in Taiwan and India, “Pi’s” production team had constant access to CPG’s equipment and world-leading experts in stereoscopic filmmaking. This included patented camera rigs, a comprehensive process for on-set 3D dailies, and special technology to let the above-water “dry” 3D cameras capture the movie’s highly praised storm sequence. The CPG team also constructed specialized camera housings to film in the 1.7-million-gallon water tank used to stand-in for the Pacific Ocean.
The result, according to critics, is one of the most intimate and visually compelling uses of 3D ever captured on film. “Lee sets out to astound the viewer with the hitherto untapped properties of 3D,” observed Richard Corliss in Time Magazine. “‘Pi’ builds on the triumphant innovations in James Cameron ‘s ‘Avatar,’ and the advances in motion-capture technology evident in ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes,’ to create a tactile, spectacular world of wonder.”
Adds Vince Pace , “With Ang’s movie, you connect so well. You feel you’re in the middle of that ocean and isolated from civilization.”
“Pi” has garnered almost $600 million in worldwide ticket sales, a global tally that far surpasses any other best picture nominee this year. The film also triumphed in China, where CAMERON | PACE Group China is constructing an extensive production infrastructure to support the country’s top creative talent.
Miranda’s Oscar win for Best Cinematography follows his award in the same category from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts earlier this month. The film was also lauded this year by the International 3D Society, picking up awards for live-action feature and live-action stereography, and “3D Moment of the Year” for the remarkable scene in which flying fish appear to engulf the film’s small lifeboat.
In 2012, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone named “Pi” one of the top three 3D films ever made. His choice for the other top two were “Hugo” and “Avatar.”
“‘Pi’ is visually amazing, inventive, and it works on you in ways you are not really aware of,” says James Cameron . “I feel like the technology we have created has contributed to a masterpiece.”
About CPG
CAMERON | PACE Group (CPG) is the industry leader in 3D technologies and production services from SLATE2SCREEN™. Led by founders and Co-Chairmen James Cameron and Vince Pace , CPG delivers the highest quality 3D through its technology products, solutions, and creative tools engineered for use across all media channels. Supporting filmmakers, broadcasters, studios, networks and creative teams globally, the company has unparalleled expertise in helping content producers realize the full potential of 3D as a powerful and immersive medium. CPG’s easy, efficient, and cost-effective 3D solutions have supported productions generating more than $8 billion in box office, enabled 31 3D feature films, more than 300 3D broadcasts, and multiple 3D media experiences in all formats. CPG-supported films and broadcasts have won Oscars® and Emmys® for both technical and creative achievements. For more information about the company, please visit: www.cameronpace.com.
In August 2012, CPG launched CAMERON | PACE Group China. CPG China is uniquely positioned to support a market that has seen exponential growth in 3D entertainment in the last five years, in large part due to the enormous popularity of CPG co-founder James Cameron ‘s “Avatar” and his recent “Titanic 3D,” which scored the biggest box office opening in China’s history when it premiered last April. CPG China builds on the success of the US company by offering China’s top creative talent in film, broadcasting, advertising and other media the same set of Total Technology and Service Solutions available to the best content producers globally.
SOURCE: CAMERON | PACE Group
I’ve always been fascinated by 3D film making; it’s amazing to realize that it has now won 3 artistic Oscar awards, as well as many technical Oscar awards. Even more impressive is Cameron/CPG’s track record!
However, we still need to place our hats over our hearts and bow our heads for what is happening to the practitioners in the industry–Rhythm & Hues, who were responsible for the visual effects (I’ll assume the lead visual effects) in “Life of Pi,” but also Digital Domain, which was created by James Cameron for “True Lies,” “Titanic” and other films. Both declared bankruptcy within the last 6 months.
It’s not just the guys at the top (which these guys are), but it’s also the men and women in the trenches.
Steve
You’re absolutely right. In some ways Hollywood is, as it always has been, in the hands of the men behind the scenes. It’s not all that much about the big stars, the big directors, it’s about all the rest of the crew that makes it all happen!
I’ve always thought it’s a bit of both. You need big idea people to 1) Come up with the big ideas, and 2) get funding to make said big idea happen.
Then you need the rest of us to actually MAKE the big idea happen. Engineers, designers, programmers, artists, fabricators, craftsmen (and women), editors, etc., etc.
It also helps if the “big idea” person actually knows a thing or two about what he or she is talking about (Cameron obviously DOES)